Three Wayne Community College trustees have been reappointed, including that board’s longest serving member.
Kay Cooke of Goldsboro and Wayne Aycock of Nahunta, who are appointees of Gov. Roy Cooper and the Wayne County Board of Commissioners respectively, are embarking on their second terms.
Keith Stewart of Fremont was reappointed by the Wayne County Board of Education. He has already served as a trustee for 26 years.
Trustee Chair David Jackson noted the contributions made by all three and thanked them for their continued service. “We are glad to have you still on the team,” he said.
“This college is blessed. They all have the best interest of the college at heart,” Jackson said.
“It is mighty comforting that we have people willing to step up into important roles,” Stewart said of his fellow trustees.
“I love this place,” Stewart said of his own enthusiasm for the work.
Stewart has served with three WCC presidents: Dr. Edward H. Wilson Jr., Dr. Kay H. Albertson, and Dr. Thomas A. Walker Jr.
“Ed had just started when I came on in ’93,” Stewart said. “Over the years, I have served with some wonderful presidents and board members and met some amazing staff.”
“I have some insight into things that have occurred and not occurred and why,” Stewart said of his tenure. “What little part I have had in bringing positive outcomes to Wayne Community was well worth it.”
Stewart’s service on the WCC board doesn’t get stale, he said. “It continues to be a learning process.”
Stewart was inspired by his father, Jesse, who served as a trustee from 1968-1972.
It has been meaningful to continue that legacy, he said. “I thought it was so cool. I was in high school at the time and it meant a lot to me.”
By statute, the 58 North Carolina community college boards of trustees have 13 members each. County commissions and boards of education within each institution’s service area, plus the governor, appoint four trustees each and the student government president serves as an ex officio nonvoting member. Other than the student representative’s term, trustee terms of office are four years.
State statute also sets out the board’s role with its institution, giving each “powers to enable it to acquire, hold, and transfer real and personal property, to enter into contracts, to institute and defend legal actions and suits, and to exercise such other rights and privileges as may be necessary for the management and administration of the institution.”
Wayne Community College is a public, learning-centered institution with an open-door admission policy located in Goldsboro, N.C. As it works to develop a highly skilled and competitive workforce, the college serves 12,000 individuals annually as well as businesses, industry, and community organizations with high quality, affordable, accessible learning opportunities, including more than 70 college credit programs. WCC’s mission is to meet the educational, training, and cultural needs of the communities it serves.
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